Styxx (Dark-Hunter 22)

Laughing at his subdued irritation, she pulled the covers up higher. "You don't sound it."

"Keep my place warm and I promise I won't murder your dog for disturbing us."

She listened as he let the dog out then stoked the fire before he returned to bed. He piled the pillows up and reclined against them. "I'm sorry I fell asleep. I hate to squander even one heartbeat of my precious time with you."

She draped herself over his chest so that she could rub her hand against the sharp ridges of his abdomen. The scent of his skin made her crave him inside her again as she dipped her hand lower to stroke him. "I don't mind." Honestly, she adored the fact that he trusted her so completely. She knew how rarely he slept.

He brushed his hand through her hair as he sighed contentedly. "It's late. Well past dark ... can you stay the night with me?"

Bethany hesitated. They rarely spent nights together. Although here lately, they'd done so a lot more often as their days were so much shorter.

Still, she was supposed to be searching for Apostolos. "How late?"

"I'm not sure, but the moon was rather high."

"Will you not be in trouble with you father?"

He didn't hesitate with his answer. "I would brave a thousand angry fathers for more time with you, my Beth."

"Then I shall stay."

Styxx smiled in relief. He never liked for her to travel late on her own. Not even with Dynatos as her guardian. He didn't trust the world to leave his Beth unharmed.

Fingering her cheek, he savored the sensation of her breath falling against his skin. This was what he'd craved most while he'd been at war. What he'd tried his best to hold onto. Not just the ability to make love to her, but the closeness he felt whenever her limbs were tangled with his. The feeling that they, together, formed a single, whole heart. It was the emotional intimacy that meant as much, if not more, than the physical. The fact that he could talk to her about anything and not have her judge him.

That she, alone, loved him and welcomed him to her life.

She pulled back from him and unhooked the necklace her father had given to her.

"What are you doing?"

She coiled it around his wrist again. "I want you to wear this."

"Beth-"

She stopped his protest with a kiss. "I have a bad feeling, Hector. And I don't know why. I have Dynatos to protect me. I don't want to leave you with nothing. So, please ... Take it. Let it protect you when I'm not around."

"Only to make you happy, my lady, and because it reminds me of you when you're not with me." Not to mention, he couldn't count how many times he'd started to stroke it out of habit, and had felt crushed that it was gone. During his time at war, it'd been the only thing that had comforted him. No matter how bad things had been, he'd look at her necklace and feel better instantly. It'd been in his life so long that it had become a part of him.

Like her.

She smiled. "I do love you."

"And I, you." He kissed her gently and inhaled the sweet scent of her skin. "Marry me, Beth," he breathed before he could stop himself.

She pulled back with a sharp frown. "Hector-"

"I won't stifle you. I swear it. But I need you, Bethany. When you're not with me, I exist as a shade. A mere shadow of a human."

"You know I can't, Hector."

Styxx ground his teeth. Like her, he had a bad feeling he couldn't shake, and it wasn't just because his sister was about to be tied to a god who refused to leave him in peace. It was a sense that Bethany wouldn't be with him much longer. That something was going to divide them.

He just didn't know what.

"I wish you didn't have to leave," he whispered. She'd told him earlier that she'd be traveling with her father for the next few weeks. "I shall miss you terribly."

"Not nearly as much as I'll miss you. But I will be back as soon as I can."

Styxx sighed as she dropped her hand to cup him gently in her palm. As bad as he hated whenever he had to leave her, it was so much more painful for her to leave him. At least, when he left, he knew he'd be back, no matter what.

With her ...

He could only hope that she'd return. "I will count the heartbeats until I see you again."

"And I will make your count as brief as possible. I promise."

Closing his eyes, he savored her fingers stroking him as much as he did those precious words. At least he had her tonight. He wouldn't think about the morrow. It would come.

His only hope was that it would treat him much better than the past had.

And that Bethany kept her promise to return to him.

December 9, 9529 BC

Styxx stood to his father's right-hand side as they waited for another royal entourage that had been sighted heading for the palace. Just what Styxx had been dying for, more witnesses to Ryssa's desecration in two days.

During the last week dignitaries had been arriving from all over Greece, and as prince, Styxx was expected to meet every one. And he looked forward to these wonderful moments as much as he did Apollo's midnight visits to his bed.

Meanwhile, his father's private words and insults rang in his ears, making these moments all the "sweeter." The more his father saw Acheron, the more he detested Styxx. And there was nothing he could do nowadays to placate the man. His father was absolutely determined to hate him.

Truthfully, he no longer cared. He merely treated these days as he'd done the endless months of war. He buried his emotions deep and just got through them as mechanically as possible, on the promise that he'd soon be with Bethany, and she would be able to erase the misery and replace it with emotions worth feeling.

But as Styxx saw the banners of their latest guests, he couldn't help feeling a little better.

King Kreon of Halicarnassus. Styxx hadn't seen him since he'd fought to repel the Atlanteans from Kreon's kingdom. The man had been kind to him and his soldiers, and he'd appreciated it.